As part of a lengthy fact-checking process for the 83 agencies involved in the survey, The Watchdog emailed a spreadsheet with the data to the city on April 18. It listed “Escondido fire and police” as having the safety benefits.

The city did not respond electronically, but confirmed the information by telephone on May 3. During a follow-up conversation in which top-tier police and fire benefits were mentioned repeatedly, the city did not differentiate between police and fire.

In fact, only Escondido police officers get the top-tier benefits with no payroll deduction.

City spokeswoman Joyce Masterson, an assistant to the city manager, said in an email after the story that the city was unsure about where the misinformation came from.

“We are checking further into this, as our goal is always to provide the media with accurate information and to be as transparent as possible to the public,” the email said.

Mike Diaz, the president of the Escondido Firefighters Association, said his fellow firefighters were concerned about receiving public backlash despite employees paying 9 percent into their retirement.

“We understand the public’s concern over pensions and we want them to know we’ve taken a responsible approach in handling those concerns through negotiations,” he said.

Diaz said Escondido firefighters began paying their share of pension costs in 2010. Because this change was not mentioned in response to the Watchdog survey, the firefighters were also left out of a June 4 story that highlighted employee groups that have begun paying more into their pensions, reducing their payouts, or both since 2009.